Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Differences in bears and rules

I just spent a week in Great Smokey Mountains National Park. This park is the most visited of all the NPs. I can tell you that most of the trails I hiked were constantly backed up with people. There is also a large black bear population in the park.

With all these people and bears, you'd think they'd have quotas, permits and bear regulations. But they don't and I can tell you there is almost no concern about the bears. No mention of bear canisters or boxes. They don't seem to break into cars looking for food.

So...I was wondering why there is such a difference in bear behavior in the Whitney area? And why have permits and limits on Whitney, but nothing in another National Park that receives many times the people?

Looking at their website, I see they do have some "bear incidents" but it certainly doesn't seem to be such an issue.

My guess is our problem is from past behavior...of humans. Looking at old Yosemite photos and movies, you see how uttterly stupid people have been in the past. They had a big garbage dump where it was a nightly event to go watch the bears get fed the restaurant garbage (no doubt just prior to watching them push a bonfire over Glacier point to provide a "pretty" firefall 8^( )

Bears are extremely intelligent, and not only learn new things (there was one in Yosemite that had learned to open car doors...not by the usual window-pry, but with the handle) and they pass this along to other bears and offspring. They could have easily distributed themselves over a large part of California, along with their behavior, in this amount of time.

So I'd guess the bear problem is something that foolish behavior of our predecessors has left us to "enjoy". In distant places, where this foolish human behavior hasn't happened, there would be fewer problems. Just a guess.

If you've ever watched a black bear scratch through a rotten tree for termites etc., you can understand why an ice chest full of human food looks so attractive 8^).

From the Great Smokey Mountains National Park webpage on bears

"In 1999, 116 bear-related incidents were recorded and extensive property damage occurred."

"National Park Rangers issue citations for feeding bears and for improper food storage. Feeding bears and improper food storage can result in fines of up to $5,000 and jail sentences lasting up to six months. Visitors are urged to view all wildlife at a safe distance and to never leave food or garbage unattended. Garbage Kills Bears!"

Maybe they have a different way of treating problem bears:

"Now wildlife managers use proactive aversive conditioning that involves capturing, working-up, and releasing bears back into the same area. The work-up involves tranquilizing the animal and performing a safe medical examination on the bear. While the procedure is harmless to the bear, it is unpleasant and re-instills a fear of humans. This approach allows bears to remain in their home range, but they shy away from the developed areas."

There is some logic in this approach. Put the fear of humans in the bear instead of killing it and letting nature replace it with a bear that again loses much of its wariness of humans.

"Volunteers and park staff diligently patrol the busiest picnic areas in the evenings to watch for potential problem bears and to clean up any trash that has been left out. Public education and law enforcement efforts have also been stepped up. So far the results are encouraging and the number of problem bears has been reduced."

sorta related.......

Inyo Nat Forest (at least at the Mammoth station) now requires ALL backpackers to EACH carry a bear can. This was related to the need to euthanize two bears who were persistent camp pests.

This can be also be a nuisance for backpackers, in terms of weight/volume of bear cans. My son and I did a quick North Lake to South Lake loop over Lamarck Col and only took a half-size Bear Vault for the two of us. Two days later, the rule changed and we would have been illegal and issued a citation, if caught.

Harvey